The curious case of Gautam Gambhir – a comeback on the cards?

Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma

The shorter formats – Gautam Gambhir v Rohit Sharma

Apparently, one must summon the chutzpah of Julius Caesar before entertaining Gambhir as a probable contender for the opening spot – the unassailable Rohit Sharma seems to have taken on the mantle of Sachin Tendulkar, emulating him in all aspects of the game (even the sponsor of the beloved willow). Besides, some have already hailed Rohit and Dhawan as the best opening pair that India has ever had!

But, is India’s opening combination really that unperturbed that the team need not look at any viable alternatives for the near future (oops, that actually means the WC 2015!)? No, it isn’t – look deep and you shall discover a vast underbelly of troubling questions there.

Rohit Sharma’s glorious ascent to the highest echelons of fame in ODI cricket, as a newfound opener for the team, has been materialized mainly as a result of the home-heavy calendar that the BCCI had prepared for the team in 2013. An unending stretch of home matches for a struggling Indian batsman like Rohit Sharma can be termed a divine intervention, considering the beating that his career had taken in the last two years.

Even though there is no denying the fact that Rohit has done exceedingly well as an ODI opener in the last 10 months, the very simple fact that he is yet to prove his mettle against the naughty red cherry in outlandish conditions straightaway invites a debate on the tactics of the team for the upcoming foreign tours as well as the WC 2015 – to be played in Australia/New Zealand.

Rohit’s uncouth handling of Steyn and co in the ODI matches played so far in South Africa is ample evidence of the immaturity with which India had wrested the entire future of the opening spot on the fragile shoulders of this Mumbai lad.

Considering all available options at disposal for this crucial opening spot, there can be no doubting the fact that Gambhir is the one man who can be of most use to the team in the upcoming hard days overseas.

This, however, is not equivalent to proposing outright exclusion of an otherwise brilliant Rohit Sharma just because of his failure in South Africa so far – it just means that the team needs to prepare itself for contingencies during the next 18 months and the ideal manufacturer of a bailout package in such conditions can be Gautam Gambhir.

Succinctly put, it would not be wise to keep him off the radar for an unduly long period of time and damage his steadily recuperating confidence in any way.

The doldrums in which the Indian team had found itself stuck for a quite a long time may have vanished into oblivion now, but the unsavory memories of traveling abroad shall continue to haunt us in the coming days.

Looking at the ‘experience quotient’ of the team at present, one is tempted to state that the presence of a fit and motivated Gambhir at the top of the order may do India a word of good when it tours New Zealand and England in 2014 and then launches into its World Cup defense campaign in 2015.